Sri Lankan shares end lower as industrials, financials weigh

Sept 10 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan shares closed lower on Friday, dragged down by losses in industrial and financial stocks.

* The CSE All-Share index closed down 1.35% at 8,865.30 points, shedding 4.84% for the week and snapping a three-week streak of gains.

* Conglomerates LOLC Holdings and Expolanka Holdings Plc were the top drags, falling 5.4% and 4%, respectively.

* The equity market’s turnover was 6.91 billion rupees ($34.55 million), according to stock exchange data here.

* Trading volume on the exchange fell to 248.6 million shares from 265.3 million shares in the previous session.

* Foreign investors were net sellers in the equity market, offloading shares worth 132.3 million rupees, exchange data showed.

* The island nation reported 2,856 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 477,636.

* Sri Lanka reported 175 fatalities due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 10,864, health bureau data showed here.

* The country’s COVID-19 curfew was extended till Sept. 21, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s spokesman announced on Friday.

* About 45.84% of the country’s population is fully vaccinated so far, data from Johns Hopkins University showed bit.ly/3C2sMpY

* For a report on global markets, click

* For a report on major currencies, click ($1 = 200.0000 Sri Lankan rupees)

Source: Read Full Article